The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has declared that the government will not succumb to pressure to reinstate the previous cocoa producer price, insisting that fiscal realities make such a move untenable.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, February 20, Mr. Ayariga said while the John Mahama administration had pledged to substantially increase the producer price of cocoa, current revenue constraints mean the government cannot fully deliver on that commitment at this time.
He maintained that decisions on cocoa pricing are guided by available resources and prevailing economic conditions, not political agitation.
According to him, the ongoing global challenges affecting the cocoa sector have had a direct impact on government revenue and the income of farmers, making it impossible to promise what the state does not have.
“You cannot give what you don’t have, even if you promised it,” he said.
“What you are proposing is what you did, and you collapsed the economy of Ghana. You put COCOBOD in debt over 36 billion Ghana cedis. All of that is the cocoa farmers’ money. So we are not going to pander to those sentiments.”
The Majority Leader dismissed claims that a recent demonstration against the reduction in cocoa producer prices was driven by genuine farmers.
He suggested that the protest was politically motivated.
“I can assure you that the demonstrators, we know who they are. And we know their real motivation for demonstrating,” he stated.
“Genuine cocoa farmers know that there is a world crisis. And that world crisis is definitely going to affect their bottom line, which is the income that they will earn from the cocoa sector.”
Mr. Ayariga argued that the effects of the global downturn are not limited to smallholder farmers, stressing that many Members of Parliament and ministers are also cocoa farmers and will equally feel the impact of falling prices.
“All of us, when the cocoa prices go down, I can assure you that many Members of Parliament sitting on this side are also going to lose income. I know ministers who are cocoa farmers, and I know that they also are going to lose income,” he said.
“The impression should not be created that it is only the ordinary person sitting out there in the village who is going to lose income. Everybody loses income as a result of this global crisis that has confronted us.”
He added that while the situation is difficult, the government’s approach is aimed at protecting the long-term stability of the cocoa sector rather than taking decisions that could worsen existing financial pressures.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com